What a pity that this wonderful old '' Queen '' is never mentioned much these days yet she was a real favourite to many seamen that lived in and around Southampton in those days. Updated on the ''Mary,'' we found the accommodation improved and a good all round ship-board atmosphere amongst the crew. I signed on in July the 1st, 1958 as a paid Lookout and as was the usual procedure in those days, had an eye sight test before signing articles. Night and side vision along with light-twinkle testing and checks for colour blindness was a normal procedure every six months on the change of articles for Lookouts. The ''Old Lizzie'' as she was affectionately known, was a far better sea ship than the ''Mary'' and did behave much better when encountering heavy seas on the beam or the quarter, which meant she didn't break as much crockery as the ''Mary !'' The Mauretania the 2nd. was a ''Queen '' ship in miniature and a back up to both ''Queens.'' It had been said that her pleasing lines were fashioned by both ''Queens'' and with the Queen Elizabeth, I can believe that. I've always thought that she was a beautiful ship. However, lying on the bottom of Hong Kong harbour as a burnt out shell was certainly no way for such a graceful old lady to finish her career.TITANIC, The Edith Brown Story, by David Haisman